Project description

As part of the Memorandum for Academic Co-operation between the World Maritime University (WMU) and Japan Maritime Centre (JMC), WMU will be carrying on research work concerning the "Historical Background and Current Situation of Seafarer Education in Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania". The report should be ready for submission to JMC by June 30, 2014.

Principal Investigator

Professor Neil Bellefontaine was Vice President (Academics) at WMU from April 2011 to December 2018. He previously held the Canadian Chair in Marine Environmental Protection from October 2006 to April 2013. He was formerly a senior executive with the Canadian Fisheries and Oceans Department with broad professional experience in maritime administration, fisheries and marine aquaculture and coastal and oceans management.

Project Officer

Dr. Michael Ekow MANUEL was until May 2013 the Dean of Faculty of Maritime Studies at the Regional Maritime University in Ghana. Previous to that, he was Head of Research and Consultancy at the same Institution. He is a Master Mariner and worked on ships for eleven years culminating in an appointment as Master (Ship Captain).

He holds degrees in Maritime Affairs (MSc.) and Maritime Administration (PhD) from the World Maritime University with ITF and Sheldon Kinney Fellowships respectively.

Momoko Kitada is a former seafarer and her research interests lie in gender and diversity issues in shipping, in particular, women seafarers and seafarers’ families in terms of identities and welfare issues. She teaches subjects in Maritime Education and Training (MET), including cultural issues, knowledge management, assessment methodology, and contemporary labour issues. Momoko’s research expands to the human element and social aspects in maritime energy management as well as capacity building for sustainable development.